


Touch Starved

by lenasmagic (dimensionhoppingrose)



Series: Weblena Month 2019 [4]
Category: DuckTales (Cartoon 2017)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Hugs, Weblena Month 2019, allusions to child neglect
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-08
Updated: 2019-08-08
Packaged: 2020-08-13 06:54:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,174
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20169994
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dimensionhoppingrose/pseuds/lenasmagic
Summary: Magica hadn't exactly been aloving parental figure.-Weblina Month Day 5: Someone's A Hugger-





	Touch Starved

**Author's Note:**

> Once again written between bits and pieces of work. I'm a great employee clearly.

Lena hadn’t been  _ lying _ when she’d told Webby she wasn’t a hugger. Not really.

She just… didn’t know any different.

Physical affection hadn’t been a huge part of her life before Webby. Even if Magica had been capable of it, Lena doubted she would have. And that was fine as far as Lena was concerned. She still shivered at the memory of the hug in the dreamcatcher. Even if it hadn’t been real, it had been spine-tingling.

Webby’s hugs, though… they were warm, and soft, and Lena swore they were magical (not that she could ever say that). Webby was always hugging her or grabbing her hand or nudging up against her in her personal space and Lena… couldn’t be upset about it. At a certain point she’d grown to love it.

Magica had stolen the last hug Webby gave Lena before the Shadow War. She’d been controlling Lena when they’d left the mansion, and of course Webby had to hug Lena before she left. Lena tried not to be too bitter about it.

But that first hug when Webby had seen her in the Shadow Realm had been amazing.

_ Touch starved _ . It was a term Lena had stumbled across during an online rabbit hole she’d fallen down looking up other things. Dealing with her problems on her own was a mixed bag — between Beakley and Della, she’d been given a few key terms to work with (depression, anxiety, PTSD), and several articles about trauma and childhood abuse later, she’d finally come across the term touch starved in an article about neglect, and it had intrigued her. She’d never been a touchy-feely person, or at least she’d never  _ thought _ she was. But that first time Webby had hugged her? Being “cool” under those circumstances was hard.

“Whatcha looking at?”

Lena jumped and quickly turned her screen off as Webby tackled her from behind, arms around her neck. “Uh, nothing. Just some article Violet sent me.”

Webby gave her a weird look. “What kind of article?”

“Nothing. Why are you on my back?”

“Oh, the boys are having a water gun fight. Wanna crash it?”

“Do we have water guns?”

“I have a modified hose…”

Lena tilted her head, thinking. “Good enough. Let’s go.”

Webby beamed and dropped down, running out. Lena dropped her phone without thinking and went after her.

* * *

“I think Scrooge is really mad about that broken window.”

“Really? I thought he was impressed by the hose.”

Lena shrugged, flopping onto her bed and scrubbing her hair dry. “It’d make a great weapon if the mansion is ever attacked. Again.”

“Can you imagine if I’d had it and been here when Magica attacked? I could’ve blasted her out the window!”

Lena choked down a laugh, hiding her face under her towel. “I can  _ see _ the look on her face! The great and powerful Shadow Queen defeated by  _ water _ !”

“ _ Fwoosh _ !” Lena’s bed bounced as Webby hopped down next to her. Lena pulled her towel up, grinning down at her. “It was too great for this world. Granny was probably right about getting rid of it.”

“Alas, the good die young.” Lena sat up, reaching for her phone, and pausing when she saw it wasn’t on the charger. “What — ugh, I must’ve left it downstairs.”

“I’ll get it!” Webby hopped up, full of energy now, and Lena wasn’t going to complain.

“The best,” Lena called after her as she jumped down out of the loft. The eager girl jumped down the hallway to the room she had found Lena in earlier, and there was her phone, left untouched on the couch. She grabbed it, then paused. Lena had been reading something earlier that she’d said Violet had sent her. What could’ve been so interesting from Violet that she wouldn’t want to share?

Webby bounced uncertainly, looking around, then back at the phone. It was an invasion of privacy, and Lena would be mad. But she was just taking a peek… and really, it would teach Lena to put a password on her phone…

Just a peek, Webby repeated to herself as she unlocked the screen, and the article popped up.

_ Of the five basic senses, touch is the most neglected one. Sadly, touch is also the one sense essential to life. The healing power of touch has been demonstrated by numerous studies: ranging from babies whose development is stunted when they are deprived of contact to the elderly who enjoy better health when touched regularly, and patients who recover from their illnesses more quickly when they are touched often. _

_ Touch, or the lack of it, affects us all. Healthy touch slows our heart rates and reduces anxiety. It makes us feel safe and nurtured. A lack of touch, though, can make us feel very lonely, depressed, ill and even aggressive and angry at the world. _

Webby frowned, sitting on the edge of the couch as she skimmed the article. She had never really thought about what it must have been like for Lena to spend her entire life with Magica, who almost certainly hadn’t been a healthy parental figure (if she was one at all). How many times had Lena walked by a happy family or couple hugging and holding hands and wanted that for herself? How long had it taken her to convince herself she just wasn’t a hugger?

She locked the phone and hurried back upstairs. Lena had stretched out on her bed, cuddling her pillow under her head. Webby immediately walked over and dropped on her, hugging her tight. Lena rolled slightly to look at her, raising an eyebrow.

“You looked at my phone, didn’t you?”

“Yeah.” Webby sighed. There was no point in arguing. “Are you mad?”

Lena thought about it for a moment, then shrugged. “It saves me from having to awkwardly explain things…”

Webby grinned, snuggling closer to hug Lena tighter. “Does it make you feel better? When I hug you, I mean?”

The hesitance in her expression was clear. Even now, it was still an inclination to never be vulnerable. But Webby was an exception. Webby was always an exception.

“Yeah. It does.”

The look on Webby’s face told stories of all the ways and reasons she would find to hug Lena in the future. Not that she ever needed a reason, Lena mused as she leaned into Webby, letting her arms circle around her head.

“Did Violet really send you that article?”

“No. I just didn’t know how to explain it.”

Webby ran her fingers through Lena’s ear, laughing. “You act like I’m ever going to judge you about something like that.”

“I know you won’t. It’s just… hard.” Lena sighed, shifting to look up at Webby. Webby smiled down at her.

“I’m never going to judge you for wanting more hugs. Besides, you know what this means?”

“What?”

“I was right — someone’s totally a hugger after all.”

Lena groaned, and Webby laughed as the teen lowered her head, resting comfortably against Webby. The duckling could’ve sworn she heard a low “ _ fine _ ” mumbled into her shoulder.


End file.
